1,721,701 research outputs found
Job polarisation in the Italian labour market
No full textThis paper investigates ICT-driven polarisation of occupations and wages in the Italian labour market. Contrary to most contributes in the literature the cognitive content of occupations is assessed by associating to each job an index that assesses the frequency of relational and analytical tasks rather than by opposing the orthogonal concepts of manual and abstract tasks. In addition, the intensity of cognitive tasks and the frequency of routine tasks are measures based on in-field surveys rather than on standard manuals for occupations classification. The outcomes of the empirical analysis do not support the hypothesis of a significant shift of occupation in favour of less routine jobs. Nevertheless, between 2004 and 2015 some signals exist of a wage polarisation that penalises occupations with high frequency of both routine tasks and cognitive tasks. In 2015 the use of ICT at the workplace significantly and positively moderate the economic return to the intensity of abstract tasks. ICT use is also a significant but negative moderator of the economic return to the frequency of routine tasks
Wage policy patterns at the firm level: An analysis of medium and large Italian firms
No full textThis article provides an empirical analysis of wage policy at the firm level. Based on cluster analysis applied to a sample of medium and large Italian firms and their employees, this article classifies the wage policy patterns adopted, provides preliminary evidence on the dynamics of wage policy at the firm level and outlines the drivers underpinning the identified patterns. The results of the empirical analyses show that identified wage policy patterns present a mix of hybrid characteristics rather than alignment with the ideal types of the internal and the external labour markets hypothesized in the literature. The wage policy models adopted by sampled firms display significant dynamic patterns between 1989 and 2004: 28.9 per cent of the firms sampled in both years switch to a different wage policy, with an overall increase of firms providing leading pay rates
The return to recognition of prior learning: An analysis of the Portuguese case
Get PDFIn the first decade of this century subsequent Portuguese governments promoted two large programmes (RVCC Centres, 2001-2005, and Novas Oportunidades, 2006-2010) aimed at improving the educational qualifications of the adult population by means of an extended network of centres in charge of apprising prior and experiential learning. Based on the Quadros de Pessoal survey this paper assesses the wage return to the recognition of prior learning promoted by the RVCC Centres and the Novas Oportunidades programmes by means of DID-PSM estimates. The outcomes of the empirical analysis outline non-negative wage effects from participation in recognition of prior learning compared to traditional formal adult education. However, the path undertaken to upgrade individual qualification matters. Participation in recognition of prior learning under the RVCC Centres initiative resulted in no significant wage increases compared to formal adult education, whereas differentials became mostly positive and statistically significant under the Novas Oportunidades programme
The Effectiveness of Remedial Courses: The CAse of Undergraduate Students in Industrial Engineering
Get PDFUnder-preparation is one of the main causes behind poor academic performance by under-graduate students. Higher education institutions often launch remedial courses as an inclusive solution to help academically deprived freshmen fill their knowledge gaps. However, the substantial resources absorbed by remedial courses raise recurrent concerns about their suitability. This paper exploits 2012-2016 administrative data from a medium-size university in Northern Italy to appraise the effectiveness of the remedial courses undertaken by newly enrolled students in industrial engineering who fail to achieve the entry test cut-off score.
The outcomes of the empirical analysis provide an articulated picture. The two-year drop-out rate of students who successfully complete a remedial course is not statistically different from that of nonremedial students, whereas significant differences persist in the number of earned credits. However, in two years also this difference disappears when the control group restricts to students who could enrol in an undergraduate course without need for remedial education thanks to a performance just above the cut-off scor
Wage policy models: what implications for vulnerable employees?
No full textPurpose – This paper explores the impact of the employer’s wage policy on the wage dynamics of vulnerable groups of employees at large firms, including younger employees, employees on fixed-term contracts and employees who take parental leave.
Design/methodology/approach – The first step of the analysis identifies the wage policy models adopted by a sample of large Italian companies by means of a cluster analysis based on firm-level variables that describe the wage level, wage structure and wage dynamics. The second step estimates the impact of the employer’s wage policy on the wage growth path of matched employees, paying particular attention to groups of vulnerable workers.
Findings – The cluster analysis identifies four clusters whose characteristics reflect ideal types suggested by the literature. The 2SLS wage regressions that examine the impact of the employer’s wage policy model on a matched employee’s wage five years later confirm that the initial employer’s wage policy is a significant determinant of wage dynamics. However, the observed patterns significantly differ between the whole sample and the examined groups of vulnerable employees.
Originality/value – Despite consistent evidence of negative labour market outcomes for vulnerable employees, the impact of firm characteristics on segregation into disadvantaged groups is still under-researched. This paper provides new evidence of how the employer’s wage policy impacts the wage growth path of disadvantaged employees and highlights critical dimensions to reduce the risk of segregation into less favourable segments of the labour market
La polarizzazione del lavoro nell’era digitale: un’analisi empirica del caso italiano
No full textUna caratteristica distintiva delle tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione (Information and Communication Technologies - ICT) risiede nella loro natura pervasiva, ossia nella capacità di trovare applicazione non solo in tutto lo spettro delle attività manifatturiere e di servizi, ma anche nei più svariati ambiti della vita quotidiana (Jovanovic e Rousseau, 2005). Questa caratteristica determina due fenomeni peculiari che si accompagnano alla diffusione delle ICT con conseguenze rilevanti nel mercato del lavoro. Da un lato continua a crescere una domanda di competenze digitali trasversale rispetto a occupazioni e settori di attività (OECD, 2016). Dall’altro lato si assiste a una crescente polarizzazione del mercato del lavoro fra mansioni di alto e basso profilo, a scapito delle professionalità intermedie (Michaels et al., 2014). Tale polarizzazione discende direttamente dalla natura programmabile delle ICT, che ne rende possibile ed economicamente conveniente l’utilizzo per automatizzare attività information-intensive ma codificabili, ossia le attività che più frequentemente rientrano nelle mansioni svolte dalle posizioni di medio livello. Risulta invece più costoso e meno efficace sostituire il lavoro degli addetti tramite soluzioni ICT quando le mansioni prevedono compiti più difficilmente codificabili in routine e procedure. Questo è vero sia nel caso di attività cognitive analitiche e relazionali, tipiche delle posizioni che richiedono le competenze più elevate, sia, all’estremo opposto della distribuzione dei ruoli lavorativi, nel caso di compiti incentrati sulla fornitura di sforzo fisico più che intellettuale in ambienti però scarsamente strutturati, prevalenti fra gli addetti con basse competenze (Autor et al., 2003).
Il quadro tratteggiato suscita numerosi quesiti circa le direttrici di evoluzione dei mercati del lavoro, a livello macro-economico, e delle pratiche di gestione delle risorse umane adottate a livello di singola impresa per accompagnare e gestire i fenomeni in atto. L’attenzione dedicata anche dai mezzi di comunicazione di massa alla possibilità di un “futuro senza lavoro” in cui le macchine provvedono non solo alla produzione di beni materiali, ma anche alla elaborazione di contenuti (Magnani, 2017), con rilevanti rischi di ulteriore polarizzazione nella distribuzione della ricchezza (Elliott, 2016) sottolinea l’esigenza di analisi scientifiche dedicate a chiarire la consistenza e la portata dei fenomeni in atto anche nel nostro Paese. Questo articolo vuole quindi verificare se è possibile ravvisare nel mercato del lavoro italiano una polarizzazione delle professioni rispetto alla complessità dei contenuti delle mansioni e alla distribuzione delle retribuzioni. Si vuole inoltre indagare se tale polarizzazione appare correlata in misura significativa all’utilizzo delle tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione sul posto di lavoro.
L’analisi empirica si avvale di due indagini statistiche effettuate dall’INAPP (l’Istituto Nazionale per l’Analisi delle Politiche Pubbliche) presso campioni statisticamente rappresentativi del lavoro dipendente in Italia. La prima indagine è contenuta nell’archivio “Organizzazione, Apprendimento, Competenze” (OAC), che riguarda 3.605 interviste effettuate nel 2004 in Italia presso un campione rappresentativo di addetti nel comparto privato dell’industria manifatturiera e dei servizi e raccoglie informazioni sulle condizioni lavorative e sull’esperienza nel mercato del lavoro. La seconda fonte informativa è offerta dalla rilevazione 2010 sulla Qualità del Lavoro (QdL) in Italia. La QdL è un’indagine periodica che raccoglie informazioni su diverse dimensioni connesse alla qualità dell’esperienza lavorativa, includendo la condizione lavorativa degli occupati, gli obiettivi e le pratiche organizzative delle aziende, le esigenze dei lavoratori e le opportunità di formazione e sviluppo di competenze. L’edizione 2010 include un campione di 5.004 occupati nel settore pubblico e privato.
Le analisi statistiche presentate nell’articolo mostrano, anche all’interno del breve intervallo di tempo considerato, segnali di polarizzazione delle occupazioni nel mercato del lavoro italiano in funzione del grado di complessità delle mansioni. La diffusione delle tecnologie digitali risulta inoltre cresciuta a tassi superiori fra le occupazioni non routinarie, per quanto riguarda i profili professionali più qualificati, e fra le occupazioni routinarie, nel caso dei profili professionali meno complessi, suggerendo così un impatto differenziato delle ICT in funzione dei contenuti della mansione. I processi di polarizzazione riscontrati non appaiono però chiaramente collegati alle dinamiche retributive
Train the worst or train the best? The determinants of employer-sponsored training in five European countries
No full textThe paper investigates the effectiveness of training initiatives by checking whether a measure of employee-job fit and a measure of employee potential are significant determinants of participation in employer-sponsored training undertaken for job-related reasons. The empirical analysis, extended to five large EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), is based on OECD PIAAC Survey
A Stochastic Multiple Players Multi-Issues Negotiation Model for the Piave River Basin
No full textThis paper investigates the usefulness of non-cooperative bargaining theory for the analysis of negotiations on water allocation and management. It explores the impacts of different economic incentives, of a stochastic environment and of varying individual preferences on players' strategies and equilibrium outcomes. The analysis is based on numerical simulations of a multilateral, multiple issues, non-cooperative bargaining model of water allocation in the Piave River Basin, located in the North East of Italy. Players negotiate in an alternating offer manner over the sharing of water resources. Exogenous uncertainty over the size of the negotiated amount of water is introduced to capture the fact that water availability is not known with certainty to negotiating players. We construct the players' objective function with their direct input. The applicability of our multiple players, multi-issues, stochastic framework is tested through several comparative statics exercises designed to assess the influence of different sources of bargaining power. Finally, the implications of different attitudes and beliefs over water availability are explored
Girls in a man's world and boys in a woman’s world: What impact on wages and training?
No full textPay and training gaps between women and men have been explained by gender segregation at work, i.e., the tendency for men and women to cluster in different workplaces, occupations, and jobs. Nevertheless, this hypothesis overlooks the nature and the quality of the working activity performed by (possibly segregated) men and women. In addition, the empirical literature provides mixed evidence about gender as a driver of participation in training.
An opportunity to explore this question from a novel point of view is provided by the OAC survey conducted by INAPP, the Italian National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies, in 2004. This dataset provides extensive information on a representative sample of Italian employees, including a question on gender prevalence in one’s job. Available data allow to explore whether men segregated into “female jobs” receive less training or get lower earnings compared to man into “neutral” or “male” jobs. At the same time, it is possible to investigate to what extent women into “male jobs” enjoy a premium in terms of reward and training compared to women in different jobs.
Preliminary outcomes suggest three basic facts. First, gender segregation cuts across occupations and workplaces. Second, a negative wage gap affects all groups of women, independently of the nature of the performed job. In the case of men, individuals in female-dominated jobs suffer a significant wage penalty (about 11% compared to men in other types of job). Third, outsiders (i.e., women in male jobs and men in female jobs) enjoy a higher probability of participating in training compared to individuals of the opposite sex in the same type of job. However, male employees always display higher participation in training in non-gendered jobs
The effectiveness of remedial courses: new evidence from undergraduate students in industrial engineering
No full textRemedial courses may support under-prepared candidates for higher education, but their effectiveness is still questioned especially in European countries, where their introduction is comparably recent. This paper implements a doubly robust estimator to account for heterogeneity between remedial and nonremedial students and possible noncompliance with the assigned remediation. Data on five cohorts of undergraduates in industrial engineering from an Italian university show average worse performances of remedial students. However, remedial students who complete the remedial path catch up in two years with the dropout rate of average nonremedial students and with the credits earned by the weakest nonremedial students
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